Karl Lagerfeld Movies

Filmmaker Douglas Keeve (Unzipped and Seamless) turns his attentions from the fashion industry to a famous New York City landmark that's undergoing a controversial renovation in this portrait of the legendary Gramercy Park Hotel. In it's early days, the Gramercy was a high-society hot spot - the Kennedys once rented out an entire floor, and a young Humphrey Bogart exchanged his wedding vows there. Later, in the 1970s and 80s, musicians, artists, and junkies haunted the hallways, attracted by the management's "anything goes" policy as well as the Gramercy's affordable room prices. Now, as luxury hotelier Ian Schrager prepares for the grand re-opening of the iconic Hotel Gramercy Park, director Keeve attempts to find what kind of impact this posh renovation will have - positive or negative - on the hotel's notorious reputation as a seedy-chic hotspot. Some residents refused to leave during the construction, and many neighbors resent the glossy makeover that the Gramercy is getting. In addition to speaking with the people who live and work at the Gramercy, Keeve also explores the sometimes-tragic story of the Weissberg family. The Weissbergs have owned and lived in the Hotel Gramercy Park for fifty years, and experienced their fair share of both joy and heartache within its walls. As the Weissbergs reflect on the legacy of the Gramercy, viewers are offered an intimate and comprehensive reflection of a place that has become known as a virtual beacon for the creative and cultural elite. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Chanel head Karl Lagerfeld not only qualifies as one of the most resonantly successful and influential fashion designers of the late 20th century, but one of the most defiantly elusive. With the documentary portrait Lagerfeld Confidential, filmmaker Rodolphe Marconi attempts to change this status. For this film, Marconi gained rare and exclusive one-time access to the designer, and posits a series of direct onscreen questions to Lagerfeld about his famously clandestine personal life and his towering career in collaboration with such fashion giants as Pierre Balmain, Jean Patou, Repetto, Mario Valentino, and many others. Marconi spent two years shooting Lagerfeld (at the mercy of the designer's discretion about what was and wasn't filmed) and edited some 200 hours of Super-8 and HD footage down to feature length. In the finished film, Marconi repeatedly cuts back and forth between candidly shot on-location footage -- of Lagerfeld photographing models and actress Nicole Kidman, sketching out dress designs, mounting and coordinating catwalks -- and interview footage wherein Lagerfeld reflects at length on his upbringing, his career, his world views, and his proclivities (including atheism and active homosexuality since the age of 13). Deliberately or indeliberately, Marconi avoids extended discussion with Lagerfeld's critics and rivals in the fashion industry. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

The world of high-fashion is explored in this documentary. Much of the film is centered on the professional life of American supermodel Christy Turlington as she travels around the world's fashion centers for photoshoots and runway gigs. The film also offers many glimpses of the glitterati that surround the fashion industry, including designers such as Karl Lagerfeld, and movie stars like Sharon Stone. Naturally the clothing itself also figures prominently. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Falling a little short of either comedy or drama or whatever the intent may have been, this bland film directed by first-timer Luciano Tovoli is about an Italian general (Marcel Mastroianni) sent to Albania along with an army chaplain (Michel Piccoli) to bring back the remains of 3,000 compatriot soldiers. The Italian general runs into a German counterpart (Gerard Klein) with a similar mission, but even among the three of them, it is an impossible task to sort out 3,000 skeletons and 3,000 dog tags and come up with any kind of order -- not a situation that lends itself to hilarity, no matter what one's perspective might be. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This sentimental drama is the story of the relationship between a lovely mother and her 20-year-old son who never really knew her. When he learns that she is dying of leukemia, he tries to get to know her. By the end of the film, the two have reconciled and she dies feeling at peace. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

For a change, the character portrayed by Gérard Depardieu in Maîtresse is relatively normal; it is the world around him which has gone slightly mad. Looking for a measure of affection and companionship, Olivier (Depardieu) crosses the path of the lovely Ariane (Bulle Ogier). She happens to be a professional dominatrix-and from the evidence we're presented, she's one of the most accomplished of her ilk. How this mismatched (to put it mildly) relationship can possibly work is the core of Maîtresse. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this ponderous French mystery-drama, based on an Ellery Queen story, blackmail would seem to be the least of the problems of Charles (Anthony Perkins). His adoptive father Theo (Orson Welles) has a madwoman for a mother, and a gorgeous woman of Charles' age (Marlene Jobert) for a wife. In fact, Charles is deeply attracted to her. In addition, his father encourages the whole family to dress in '20s clothing, which makes them all feel out of place. However, when he wakes in a strange bed with blood on his hands and no memory of anything the night before, he gets a little bit frantic. He calls Paul, his old professor of philosophy (Michel Piccoli), one of the few non-family members he can trust for discreet help. Theo has made his country estate into an eerily independent universe, not like anyplace else. Paul accompanies Charles to the father's strange home, and uses his philosophical training to try to solve the mystery of the bloody hands. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi